Ball-Wonk Returns
As a space filler while I drive to D.C. United training, let me note that Ball-Wonk has returned. And in the best possible manner; refusing even to acknowledge its disappearance of five months, and immediately jumping into the fray by noting the following:
Speaking before a joint session of Congress at the end of the Nationals Caravan, President Stan W. Kasten took responsibility for the lack of progress in the last year and announced a new strategy for Nationals efforts in 2007.
Saying the key to future stability was restoring order to the rotation, Kasten announced plans to 'surge' 21,500 reinforcements into the starting rotation when Spring Training opens on Feb. 13. Some of the surge will come from pitchers who were scheduled to leave the big leagues but will now stay on through Spring Training, such as Jerome Williams and Brandon Claussen, while the bulk will be fresh reinforcements. These include 13 minor league pitchers offered contracts as well as the entire male populations of seven cities in the Dominican Republic, Venezuela, and Panama.
Since I've already gotten several excited missives about BW's return, and since I'm new to the whole Nats' blogging world, could someone please tell me: is BW the Wizznutzz of Nats' blogs, disappearing to Finland or whatever during the offseason and then returning to much acclaim and weirdness? Or how exactly does that work? Are there t-shirts involved? Will BW ever link to my humble site? Actually, there are so many Nats blogs who engage in so much blog-on-blog rage-spitting dialogue that I sometimes get confused. Could someone kindly post a summary of who exactly does what in Nats blogland, a division-of-labor kind of thing? I already know that Screech's Best Friend posts eight billion-word interviews with major team execs, and that Miss Chatter asks pro athletes silly questions, and that Capitol Punishment translates the collected works of Stan Kasten, annotated, and that District of Baseball does what I do, except better, and earlier in the morning, and with less hand-wringing.
Thanks.
By Dan Steinberg |
February 1, 2007; 12:29 PM ET
| Category:
Nats
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Posted by: Scott M. Collins | February 1, 2007 01:01 PM
Sorry, bout that - I'm gone for the moment.
Posted by: Yuda's wiki | February 1, 2007 01:09 PM
Scott, that link doesn't go anywhere.
Posted by: | February 1, 2007 01:09 PM
Yeah, it's been taken down as it wasn't ready for prime time (needs a trip to the beauty salon). We'll come up with a list
Posted by: misschatter | February 1, 2007 01:11 PM
Ballwonk is not nearly as weird as Wizznutzz. Ballwonk is humorous, but his humor is more similar to the type of tone you find in an Onion article. Wizznutzz, as you know, has legitimate MSD-IV style mental problems, which are the source of his humor.
Posted by: Ghitza | February 1, 2007 02:16 PM
There are a handful more than this out there, but they are free to add themselves! It ate the initial post (that had links) so submitting without links:
District of Baseball: Links to media stories first thing in AM with one sentence quips.
Capitol Punishment: Timely commentary and analysis on stories and org moves using critical thinking skills.
Distinguished Senators: Pure snark with wrestling references and puppy bowl promotions
The Beltway Boys: Sentimentality/broad commentary.
Nationals Farm Authority: Links/commentary on minor leagues.
Just A Nats Fan: Social commentary and gameday perspective of Nats with on and off-field photography
Ballwonk: Creatively morphs and analogizes Nationals to politics
Nats320: Fanboy interviews and game experiences from season ticket holders in section 320.
Banks of the Anacostia: Analysis by stats - and lots of them
CurlyW: Two articulate and nice guys covering the team
Federal Baseball: Good analysis and coverage with some stats and some funny colorings
Nationals Enquirer: One-liners accompany photo of the day and humorously answers the mailbag
Nasty Nats: (on paternity leave)
Oleanders and Morning Glories: One columnist and one more serious writer (and an MIA Canadian)
Thurdl's Sports: Nationals Institute of Health - keeps tabs on injuries to players and explains them
WFY: Some of what District of Baseball does with more commentary thrown in
Nats Triple Play: Self proclaimed 3 Idiots on Baseball and Life in the Nation's Capital. (they're really not idiots!)
Posted by: NatsBlogs | February 1, 2007 02:58 PM
Hey Dan,
tell Kyle he stills owes me a Rimando jersey, there's probably one floating around there somewhere.
unless he was just giving me drunk talk at the end of WaterWars.
:)
Sway out!
Posted by: Sway | February 1, 2007 04:36 PM
Don't leave out NatsFanatics (www.natsfanatics.com)! Home of the Nats Fan Club, on-again-off-again blog, and great fan forum.
Check us out!
Posted by: The Fanatic | February 1, 2007 04:58 PM
Is there a relationship between the outbreak of serious crises in the Middle East and periodic slowdowns in BallWonk's output, almost as if BallWonk's day job involves actual low-level wonkery having to do with U.S. policy toward said international crises? Or might the pressure of having to go to a mini-plan's worth of actual games in 2006 -- getting home after midnight and too tired to blog because suddenly he's closer to 40 than to 21 and he just can't pull the all-nighters like he used to and even the bourbon doesn't help so much anymore because now it makes him old-man sleepy instead of young-man alert -- have driven BallWonk to the brink of a nervous breakdown? What about the rumors of BallWonk sightings on the beaches near Kihei and Lahaina throughout late 2006? What about a perfect storm of international crises, too many late nights at RFK, and a long tenth anniversary vacation?
BallWonk chooses not to comment on hypotheticals.
But BallWonk does note, to his surprise, that Ms. BallWonk has lately been pestering him to get back to the blogging, and he also notes his plans to watch more games this year in the homey comforts of BallWonk National Committee headquarters instead of at RFK.
BallWonk also apologizes for how hopelessly out-of-date his links are, and promises to update them soon with the many fine Nationals blogs not yet listed.
Posted by: BallWonk | February 1, 2007 05:31 PM
I check out NationalsPride.com most mornings. They've got all the news stories, too, plus a couple of decent bloggers.
Posted by: BobbyHill | February 2, 2007 12:05 AM
oh, and BallWonk talks in the 3rd person.
Posted by: natty bumpo | February 2, 2007 03:43 AM
Thank God Ballwonk's back!
Posted by: mckinlhj | February 5, 2007 09:05 AM
The comments to this entry are closed.
Here's a start, though it's partly outdated: http://wiki.yuda.org/index.php?title=Category:Blog